So Much is Unknown
by RainbowMunchies
Summary: Ash and Pikachu get bumrushed in some old stone ruins. Only pure love can save the unknown. The title is a hint. A lemon not too much later. ;D An Ash/Pikachu slasher for my poll results. :3
1. Overtaken

**Hey! So welcome to the poll winner - Ash/Pikachu!!!! :D**

**I don't own any aspect of Pokemon whatsoever.**

**Enjoi.**

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So Much Is Unknown – Chapter 1

Humidity stuck to Ash like a wet blanket, coating his skin and swirling his thoughts into a useless soup.

The swamp was an endless haze of green. Shades of emerald layered and merged together until Ash felt sure a tomb of living ropes would envelop him. Atop his head, Pikachu drowsed, all energy pulled away by the heat around them. Lethargy had sunk in slowly but surely, and the little creature's attentive vigil had deflated into barely remaining awake. Ash couldn't blame him. If he had seen anywhere to lie down, he probably would have collapsed then and there.

But he couldn't. Not now, after Brock and Misty had gotten separated from him. First that swarm of murkrow, and then all the mudkip racing at them, and in the frenzy a bunch of vileplume were disturbed. It was all a hazy blur to Ash. It was almost like the pokemon had been _trying_ to split their group up. Next thing Ash knew, he had been turned every which way, and Brock and Misty had vanished. He wouldn't have known which way was up if it weren't for the sun blazing down on them, a ball of fiery anger barely visible through the thick foliage of the swamp.

It was just his luck he had sent all the other pokemon back to Oak after that last round of battles, convinced they needed a good rest and he'd be fine handling any trouble he encountered with his old pal Pikachu; they hadn't been planning on reaching any gyms anytime soon. Brock had said it was a few days worth of hiking through the swamps, and then some mountains before the next town would even be within view. A pokemon center was at the base of the mountains, right outside the edge of the swamp. Ash figured if he could just reach that center, he could get help.

The only useful thing he had found in his backpack – besides a few sandwiches and water bottles – was a compass. Through the small bit of listening he'd actually been doing, Ash had gleaned that the end of the forest was somewhat northeast. So he'd found northeast on the compass, and had been attempting to travel in a straight line ever since. But he never felt the compass was leading him in a straight line….

It had been 6 hours and Ash was exhausted, his spirits beginning to feel a bit worn out in the bottoms of his shoes.

_If only Pikachu could fly!_

The thought brought a giggle to his throat, and Pikachu's ears twitched in interest at the first sound Ash had made – besides grunts and gasps – in a few hours.

"P_iiiiiii_?" the lazy beast queried from his plush red bed, not even wasting the energy to open his eyes.

"Nothing important," the boy mumbled, smiling.

The smile quickly disappeared as he stopped short, unable to move for the moment thanks to a rather thick clump of vines in his way.

"Oh great…"

A hand reached up and ran soothingly across yellow and brown. Pikachu yawned loudly, finally stretching its tiny arms and sitting up to take account for their situation. Below him, Ash struggled for breath. Between the heat and moisture in the air, it was a wonder the child was getting any oxygen at all. Pikachu reached over and patted the side of Ash's head encouragingly, hoping to lift his fallen spirits. The boy never did like to be alone.

_But he isn't alone_, Pikachu reminded himself, _he's got you._

The thought brought a loving smile to his face as he finished up patting his adorable steed.

"Thanks Pikachu, I really appreciate the support. But what I could actually use is some help with this… this…"

Ash couldn't finish his sentence. In a mix of frustration and exhaustion, the boy held out his hands and flailed them weakly at the tangle of green before them.

Pikachu surveyed the scene. Stretching one last time, he hopped down and landed lightly at Ash's feet. He grabbed a vine in stubby arms and pulled. No use, it didn't budge. A look up at a dismayed Ash, and teeth began working at the vegetation. No use.

Heat was clouding Pikachu's mind with annoyance. Why couldn't this vine just move?! Why did everything always work against them in some way?! Sweat poured out from under his thick fur. Everything itched, and his eyes stung as salty water ran in rivers down his face.

Why was it so damn hot?!?!

A familiar glow emanated from Pikachu's tail. Ash stepped back. _Waaaay _back.

"P_iiiiiiii_-"

Pikachu leapt in the air.

"-k_aaaa_-"

A midair somersault flung his illuminated tail forward and gouged it deep into the mass of plant life.

"-ch_uuuuuuu_!!!!"

The green split easily beneath the white hot Iron Tail. The tail left a gaping wound behind – a hole sufficiently large enough for any human to traverse. Pikachu landed deftly on the ground, standing tall for a long moment, breathing heavy as hunks of vine fell around him, making soft wet _thlopp_ing noises where they hit the ground like dead limbs, dripping their clear lifeblood on the hard ground.

The next moment he was on his back, completely drained.

"Pikachu!" Ash cried, running up to lift his friend's head.

"Kaaaa," Pikachu replied wearily, an embarrassed look on his face. He was worn out, but he would live.

Ash looked up at the split. A genuine grin brightened his features.

"Great job Pikachu!" he praised his buddy, "I'd hug you, but I'm pretty gross right now."

They both enjoyed weak chuckles at this as Ash lifted Pikachu back onto his head. With that done, he proceeded to step through the hole in the vegetation. Expecting to see more of the same hues of green and brown, Ash was surprised to find stone peeking out at him from beneath the swamp life.

Walking closer to the foreign texture – northwest path momentarily forgotten - he found himself looking at an actual structure of sorts. The "building" was quite tall, wide and rectangular in shape. The end of the building was hidden deeper into the swamp, but Ash guessed the structure was rather long and large on the inside. The wall Ash had approached was made completely of stone, and seemed to sport dozens of faded carvings.

Some depicted pokemon Ash knew, like arcanine and goldeen. Others were more confusing. More like letters and random shapes than any pokemon Ash could remember ever seeing. He reached out to trace them, mesmerized. Above his head, a yellow paw reached out tentatively towards a particular image. Ash looked up, curious as to what could attract Pikachu's depleted energy, and gasped.

It couldn't be! He stared hard, bringing his hand up to meet Pikachu's - touching the wall to test its reality.

It was him! The picture was of Ash! He didn't know how, but he could tell it from the moment he saw the image. As Ash's brain went into overload, a stammering stream of babble dribbled from his mouth.

"But… what?... Pikachu, how could I?!?... What the…"

The choppy mid-length hair, the determined look in the eyes of the crude etching, the stance the image took – one hand on his hip as the other pointed into the right hand distance. They could all be used to argue in favor of it being Ash. But the one thing that sealed the deal was the oddest thing about the entire wall. The one thing that stood out among the dozens of old, decaying carvings. The only thing that would have confused anyone looking at this link to the distant past…

The baseball cap atop the character's head.

Ash's baseball cap.

Ash's baseball cap, carved into a wall that had to be hundreds, if not thousands of years old, in the middle of a swamp.

Ash finally managed to blurt out an actual sentence.

"What the hell?!"

Pikachu was up top, working on a cognitive reply, when something caught both their eyes. Ash head whipped to the right, with Pikachu clinging on. A black blur slid out of their vision. Fatigue and etching forgotten, Ash and Pikachu prepared to defend themselves.

"Who's there?" Ash said loudly.

No response. He stepped forward, feeling Pikachu tense on his head. He wasn't scared, not with Pikachu there. He would put his life on the line for Pikachu, and he knew the same was true for his friend.

When nothing appeared, Ash moved closer still. A doorway came into view, leading into the building. Inside was hard to see, but from the faint light that had slanted in, Ash could see the floor was coated in a smooth layer of dust and sand. No prints were visible.

Behind them, the sun sank lower in the sky. Pikachu's ears twitched, his face leaning towards the doorway in an attentive pose. His paws rested on the edge of the hat, and Ash could feel the weight sliding the hat down on his forehead.

_What is that sound?_

A ringing in his ears was drawing him in, wrenching him from thoughts of safety; he felt his mind overtaken with a power far greater than his own. A voice. It was one he could barely hear.

_What is it saying?_

_**"…"**_

He leaned in as close as he could, pushing the hat down beneath him.

"Pikachu? What're you-"

It rang through all at once, exploding like a cannon inside Pikachu's head.

_**"COME TO US!"**_

He had to obey. There was no way to stop his body from moving. Pikachu braced his hind legs and leapt off Ash's head, landing hard and racing into the building with a hum of Flash lighting the air around him.

"Pikachu?!" Ash yelped, groping at the space where his friend had vanished.

Ash didn't even think before dashing after the ball of light. It bounced in the darkness and barely lit the wall to his left where more etchings littered the stone. The other walls remained invisible.

The building certainly _felt_ huge on the inside. The darkness seemed to stretch on forever.

"Pikachu!" he shouted in vain.

Ash was sure that any minute he would fall head over heels in the blackness. At this point his eyes were useless, save for identifying the ball of gold ahead of him. The ball bounced once more, and vanished completely, as if swallowed whole.

"Pikachu!" Ash screamed.

He ran what felt like an eternity before lack of air crippled him. Gasping for breath, tears filling his eyes, Ash stopped. How long had he been running? A frantic look behind him showed no sign of the sunlit exit.

What to do? What had happened to Pikachu? Ash stood breathing heavily. The lack of vision was a pressure on his chest, laboring his functions. His heart refused to slow.

The next thing Ash felt was an initial sense of terror over take him.

Half a second later and he was covered in spots of pressure. They clung to him, pinning his arms down with a force he could not contest. A _whooshing_ sound and the room exploded in light. Ash screamed out as his retinas expanded painfully. His head reeled in agony.

"Kaaaaa!" Pikachu screamed from nearby.

But Ash couldn't see. He couldn't move.

"Pikachu!" Ash cried, "Bite them! Shock them! Don't worry about me – GET OUT OF HERE!!!"

Struggling, but to no avail.

"CHUUUUUU!" Ash heard, and the dimness that had been attempting to creep slowly into his vision scampered out with the appearance of new light. He kicked wildly.

"LET ME GO!!! PIKACHU! RUN!"

He couldn't stop panicking.

All at once he was dropped. Ash landed on his butt. His hands came up to smear across his eyes.

Pikachu appeared – blurry but whole. Black forms clumped in huge masses around his being, levitating him above Ash's height. Several lay on the floor around him – smoking, charred remains of dark, random shaped creatures. Pikachu sobbed, reaching out for Ash.

"CHUUUU!!!"

His head whipped back and forth, his arms outstretched, pleading like a child to be embraced.

Ash reached back out, desperate to save Pikachu from whatever fate these beings intended, and the floor gave out beneath him.

Ash screamed - a sound that echoed off the walls and continued to do so even after he had hit the stone deep below the ground. The whole way down his eyes were on Pikachu - who screamed along with his master and friend, watching him fall to his death.

Ash swore to himself he felt foreign tears land on his face.

A final glimpse of gold before everything faded into black.

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**a/n: Edited (again) 4/27/10 – nothing major, but I cleaned it up a bit.**


	2. Awake and Change

Dripping?

He was sure he heard a dripping.

It was a dripping, and perhaps a drumming; a liquid drumming against his temples.

"I have to open my eyes," he thought, "I have to see where I am."

Slowly his lids lifted. He wasn't accustomed to feeling such intense pain from such a simple action, and immediately his hands came up in an attempt to aid his mind. Ash was glad to see he was still all in one piece, but he felt pain quickly crippling his actions. His eyes adjusting ever so slowly, Ash vaguely registered the dim light around him.

It was not sunlight, but the glow produced by a synthetic source; filmy and slightly tinted. The drumming began to subside, and a glance around gave only spots of white dancing along the dirty yellow, framed by darkness.

"Ugh?" was all he could manage to articulate.

Not expecting an answer, the sound which broke through cause Ash to jerk painfully.

"**Human, it is good you have awakened.**"

"Ahhhhh!" Ash screeched involuntarily, his hands gripping his head, applying pressure that would only aid to hinder. His back arched. His hands became sticky with coagulated blood.

"**BE STILL HUMAN!**" the voice commanded. "**Your wounds will only become worse!**"

Ash gritted his teeth, clenching his eyes to shut out the pain. But it didn't work. The drumming had returned, a pounding now, beating against the insides of his mind, but he remained still, wanting nothing more than to hear the voice again; to find a distraction from the agony.

"Wha-a," Ash's breathing was jagged and pained. "Wha—ha-hat…"

"**Speaking is not necessary human. I can understand your thoughts. You are not very deep within the ruins of the Unknown. This is their grounds that you have desecrated.**"

_I didn't mean to_,Ash thought, memories of the floor giving way only coming in flashes of vertigo and emotion. _The floor fell out from under me. It wasn't MY fault!_

"**Be that as it may**," the voice went on, in a way that neither forgave Ash nor took responsibility for the occurrences which Ash had experienced, "y**ou **_**are**_** here for a purpose. It was not our intentions for you to fall. Before I continue, there is someone you should meet.**"

At this Ash saw a shape move into the circle of light. The pink blur solidified into young chancey, eyes wide as saucers and filled with what Ash could have taken for either terror or sheer awe. He was surprised to see a paper nurse's hat nestled atop her head. This was not a wild chancey, yet she was out here, in the middle of nowhere.

"**Your life has not been extinguished thanks only to the care of this young one. I alone would not have been able to help you, but her love for your people led her to traverse to this place at my call to aid you.**"

The chancey turned to the right, as if speaking to someone, and Ash heard her mumble a few words of chancey speech. Her voice shook, but nonetheless rang with sincerity.

The drumming was dying again, but Ash wasn't sure how much longer he could stand the pain. His hands were wet with running blood, having reopened his head wounds upon applying pressure. He was becoming dizzy. Ash began to lie down again, and at this the chancey ran forward, her eyes becoming stern.

"Chance! Cha-chancey chancey chance!" she chastised, pushing him up to sitting position with stubby arms. Once he was up she ran back into the darkness, returning a moment later with a large egg. She shoved it at him, jibberish streaming from her mouth that only continued to agitate Ash's mental sores.

"I..do-ah-n-" Ash barely whispered. _I don't understand._

"**Eat it,**" The voice commanded, "**She says it will restore you.**"

Ash hesitated. Didn't eggs usually_ belong _to pokemon? He didn't want to eat a baby…

"**It is not fertile,**" the voice answered his thoughts. "**No child will be born of that egg. Now eat it, or you **_**will **_**die.**"

This time Ash didn't hesitate. He bit into the shell. Soft yet leathery, it caved in easily and Ash gnawed at it with a sudden urgency. The yolk surged upward as the inside liquid compressed like air in a balloon against the pressure Ash applied. His canines hooked onto the membrane, and the hole expanded quickly, the warm yolk bursting through and choking Ash for a long moment. It filled his mouth, bland to the taste, dribbling over his lips and chin, coating his fingers with a shining mixture of white and gold.

Ash couldn't get enough of it. The taste was beautifully refreshing and with each gasping swallow he felt strength surge outward from his stomach. He felt the warmth of the egg sliding down his esophagus, landing in his stomach and radiating power. Tears streamed from his eyes, washing bits of papery shell and gooey yolk down his face and neck. Unable to control himself, Ash moaned loudly. His head began to itch so powerfully it almost drove him mad, but even this could not for a single moment wrench his hands from the prize they forced into his hungry maw.

Mind blanked, the boy felt no pain; thought of nothing but devouring this warm energy – of making it his own. He did not stop until the last of the egg, shell included, had been licked from his fingers. The warmth had spread throughout his entire body, and taken the form of its vessel. The feeling became part of Ash, and having done became unnoticeable by his senses.

When it was all done and over with, Ash sat, staring at the floor, gasping desperately for breath but otherwise good as new.

"Chancey?" the nurse asked, suddenly becoming vivid in Ash's vision. She was the only splash of color against the darkness. Her eyes were once again wide with the unnamable emotion.

"I'm good, thank you." Ash was surprised to hear his voice so strong. His hands came up to where the itching had both begun and ended. The blood had made his hair stiff, but he could feel neither pain nor fresh blood. His back no longer felt as if he had been twisted around wrong. His ears no longer rang, and his mind was as clear as it had ever been.

"You saved me," Ash said to her, smiling. "Thank you so much."

His hand reached out, searching for her, but she stepped back. Ash's smile disappeared and a frown replaced his features, but he leaned away, not wanting to upset his savior.

The chancey turned from him, towards the darkness and whatever resided in it. She squeaked out more jibberish, seeming to be scared of the answer. She stood for a moment, listening to the voice in her head- Ash could tell this only because of the blank look that splashed across her face; the intense look of concentration, even in the dead silence- and then she smiled wide, turned to Ash, bowed to him and with a flash of blue and white light vanished.

"Wait!" Ash jumped up, running towards the spot the Teleportation had occurred, but all that remained was the outline, etched momentarily into Ash's vision. This too, faded, and Ash was left alone in the dark. Alone. Without Pikachu.

"**You wish to see your pokemon,**" the voice read from Ash's thoughts. "**And you shall. You and he have an important task.**"

Realization flashed across his face, and Ash burst upwards from where he sat. "What have you done with Pikachu!" he screeched, twisting this way and that in place, hoping to catch a glimpse in the darkness of his invisible foe. "If you've hurt him-,"

"**What human? What would you do to me? I could keep you trapped here for eternity. I brought you here, I hold you here, and I can leave you here to die if I wish.**"

"That's not true!" Ash retorted almost instantly, pride and fear merging into a trembling tenor. "There are people who would miss me! They would search until they found me. My friends don't give up!"

"**HUSH HUMAN!**"

Ash cringed.

"**There are powers at work far greater than you. You humans consider yourself the masters of all, when was it not the mighty Groudon who rose the very ground you stand on? Is it not I who must reborn from the ashes of YOUR mistakes?"**

"Who are you?" Ash cried out. He didn't understand the voice, and didn't really care. He just wanted his friend. Wanted to hold the creature in his arms once more and feel the pressure of him small body atop his head and share food with him and tell him secrets he told no one else. "What have you done with Pikachu? Please. I just want Pikachu back."

With that, the light expanded. The yellow drew back, showing nothing. It was as if Ash was in a universe of dirty yellow, as far as the eye could see. And then all at once the voice appeared. Ash knew, sure as anything, the creature he now stared at was the master of the powerful tone that had invaded his mind.

It was beauty and power incarnate, this creature. A bird, but far larger than any pidgey Ash had ever seen. Its feathers were fiery orange, gleaming even in the dull light. They seemed to radiate a light of their own. The feathers lay flat along the body, ending in bands of crisp white and vibrant green that was tucked, for the most part, in a formal style beneath his being. The crown of feathers atop his head stood proud and erect, symbolizing strength and confidence to the highest degree.

The body itself was plump but strong; sitting nestled on the ground, his tail of rainbow streaks fanning out behind him. Beneath his stomach powerful, black, gnarled skin fitted over steel bone to form talons, each seen claw as thick and long as Ash's forearms.

Ash's head rose, scanning the creature's smooth, elegant neck. It was graceful, yet held the strength and power needed to balance the massive head above. His eyes reached the face, and were drawn first and foremost to the beak. It was impossible not to attract attention. It projected from the face, curving and ending finally in a sharp hook. Closed, it still looked as though it could slice through rock and eat a small pokemon whole. The waxy substance glowed a deep yellow. Almost, Ash thought, like sunflower petals late in their season. On either side lay beady marbles of intelligence, glaring at Ash through a mask of black.

"You…" Ash breathed, at a loss for words. First the room, and now a creature he had spent years believing he'd imagined.

"**This is the second time you have seen me human. You are lucky; most go their entire lives never knowing of my existence. I am the mighty Ho-oh, born from the ashes of my being. I cannot die. I rain fire upon those who challenge me, but I show mercy to those pure of heart and confident of their words.**"

Around the bird, black spots appeared, blurring into the light and finally solidifying, forming shapes. These shapes hung in the air, singles gaping eyes dripping glaze down their dark, twisted beings. The thick veins twisting along their bulbous eyes pulsed loudly. They disgusted Ash. He stepped back, but wheeled around quickly to see there was no escape. They surrounded the area, each different, but remaining uniform in size and sheer repulsiveness.

These were the things that had taken Pikachu.

Anger surged up, and Ash leapt at the creatures, which hovered deftly out of reach.

"Where have you taken him?" he hissed. "Bring him back to me!"

He whirled to face the ho-oh.

"Tell them to give him back Ho-oh! They are _your _minions aren't they? Show me this _mercy_ you brag about!"

"**Your friend is not hurt. Would I have healed you if I did not have mercy? Do you want to hear **_**why**_** I have brought you here, or would you like me to abandon you here to yell at those who have done you no harm?**"

Beside ho-oh, one of the black creatures' eyes pulsed stronger than the others, leaking heavily and down the misshapen body. All at once it began to twitch, convulsing and twisting with a shrill cry. Bits of flesh slid from its mass, hitting the ground with wet thumps and running into its eye, distorting the pupil. The thing began to lower slowly, then simply fell altogether, landing eye-first on the ground with a splat.

Ash brought his hands to his face, upon which a look of pure horror had arisen. He braced himself, but felt nothing rise. Ash suddenly felt lucky he hadn't eaten.

Ho-oh's head moved slightly, his eyes tracing the movements of the black creature until its fall. He watched it twitch madly on the floor for a moment, and then turned his eyes back to Ash.

"**This is why you are here. These unknown have been trapped here for years, slowly dying in the reality they have created. All you see here is what they have created for you to see.**"

"Dying?" Ash repeated weakly. He was too tired and sickened and sad to continue on with his rage. "How can I fix that? How is that an excuse to attack me?"

"**There is one thing you can give them they cannot create themselves; emotion. They themselves cannot create this, though they are extremely receptive to it. It brings them life. They thrive on the power of emotions. Even now, your love for your friend has is bringing them strength.**"

"They don't have… emotions?"

Ash couldn't understand this. What was it Ho-oh wanted from him?

"**You are full of pure love, unwavering and true; extremely valuable to these dying beings.**"

Around them several more of the unown were lowering, or just falling out of the air. They thrashed quietly on the ground, giving little death cries now and then.

"**I will present your friend to you now. Do not be surprised.**"

At ho-oh's words, a being appeared before them, accompanied by more wet thlops and splats as a whole section of unknown fell to the ground. Ash started to run forward, but stopped himself.

This was not Pikachu, it was a human boy. Ash was sure he knew this person. His spirit seemed to radiate familiarity.

A boy, of about thirteen or fourteen; shaggy blond hair coated his head, with undercurrents of the darkest brown. His skin was porcelain, untouched by sun but healthy all the same, as if the boy had always worn a thin shirt, or carried a parasol with him, but his cheeks shown a deep red, only noticeable because of the paleness of his face. His yellow bangs hung un-groomed, framing two eyes of light brown and the most beautiful, childish face Ash had ever seen on a boy.

He wore only jeans, the exact look of Ash's in fact, and his chest was quite muscular. He had especially well built arms, sleek and powerful but at the same time fragile like paper mache. Despite this, the boy was petite and Ash was sure that if it came to a fight of any sort, he had nothing to worry about.

But there was no fear of that. The boy was sobbing loudly, his forearms coming up to wipe across his face every so often. He sat on the ground, legs splayed out before him, oblivious of Ash, Ho-oh, and the falling black forms around them. He let out a loud moan, sniffled loudly, and then surprised Ash.

"Aaaaash," the boy wailed, his hands coming up to catch the falling tears. "Ash wh-wh-where are you?"

Ash's face twisted in confusion and empathy for the boy. He began once more to step forward, but the boy jerked suddenly, looking up. The look, that of concentration on the words in his mind, and all at once he swiveled his body. It was as if he'd seen Ash for the first time. He leapt, a smile exploding across his tear stained face, and tackled Ash, knocking them both to the ground.

"Ack!" Ash cried, landing on his back. He shoved the boy up and off of him.

"Who are you?" Ash cried up at the boy.

The boy looked down at Ash, a hurt expression gracing his beautiful features.

"**This,**" Ho-oh answered, "**is Pikachu.**"


End file.
